A Possible Knight
by Harri The Celery
Summary: Naruto is just a lowly stablehand in a castle...but he plans to change that with a couple deranged ideas and Hinata's help. "Anyway, I doubt she would dance with you. You smell of goats." Naruhina later on.
1. Chapter 1: The Idea

**Aloha fellow fanfictioners! I hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, okay? I'm not ****_that_**** brilliant...**

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Chapter One: The Idea

Upperton Castle of Lowerland was enormous and had so many servants that the King and Queen couldn't keep track of them. Heck, not even the servants could keep track of eachother. So, when Naruto, one of the _many _stablehands, caught wind of an upcoming event where various lords, princes, and noblemen would compete various competitions for Princess Ino's-who he was madly in love with- hand in marraige, Naruto knew he could sneak in and nobody would recognize him.

"Princess Ino is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. She's just so...perfect. Do you realize how lucky I'd be if I won this competition?"

"Naruto." Hinata, one of the scullerymaids, was sweeping the floor of the castle's wide stone kitchen while Naruto sat on the large wooden table in the middle of the room, eating a leftover poppyseed muffin Hinata gave him. Naruto and Hinata had known eachother for ages, and were inseperable friends. "You can't just waltz into a royal gathering as some obscure prince of Nowhereland and expect the King to grant you the princesses hand in marriage."

"But I could." When Naruto got an idea in his head there was no stopping him. And Hinata knew it.

"What do you expect to wear? You going to where your work clothes and track mud all over the Queen's persian rugs?" Hinata hated to be the one to burst Naruto's bubble but sometimes he just wasn't practical. When they were seven Hinata tried to stop him from attempting to "train" one of the Kings new stallions when no one was looking. That ended with Hinata running to get help while Naruto rolled around in pain with a broken arm and the horse galloping in the opposite direction. Ten years and many broken bones later, Hinata was trying to stop him from breaking his heart.

"Well...I thought I could snag some material from...somewhere, aaaand maybe you could sew me something?" He was smiling at Hinata again.

Hinata didn't want to know where Naruto was _snagging _ his material from. That sounded more then a little bit shady. But after years of tagging along she'd learned that if Naruto couldn't be stopped she might as well help him.

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**Well, that was a lot shorter then I thought it would be typed up -_- Comment if you please! Criticism is welcome. Chapter two is written out in a falling apart notebook in my scribbly handwriting so hopefully I can transfer that to the computer soon ^.^**

**Much love to you strangers!**

**~Harri The Celery **


	2. Chapter 2: Sneaking In

Chapter 2: Sneaking In

The day of the opening ceremony arrived all too soon for Hinata. She was, at the moment, making some last minute fixes on Naruto's ornate garb. Well, she liked to think it looked ornate, but making nice clothing with the odd scraps and pieces of cloth that Naruto found was rather hard.

"Stand still, Naruto. Or else your shirt-sleeves will be two different lengths," said Hinata as she continued hemming the frilly white shirt he was wearing. Naruto was standing with his arms out-stretched and an impatient expression on his face. He was wearing khaki pants with black leather tall boots that they'd found and managed to clean up with some polish.

"_Hinata. _I _really _need to get going," Naruto sighed.

"I'm sewing as fast as I can! Do you want to look like some half-witted derelict?" Hinata snapped.

"No..."

"Then shut up!" Hinata felt a little bad for being mean to Naruto, but she had been working nights planning and preparing for Naruto and was beyond tired. Infiltrating a royal event as a fake prince was risky, and could end badly if it didn't work out right, so she was extremely nervous too, which just _added_ to her short temper. Why she did so much for Naruto, she'd never know. "Alright-" she tied a knot and cut the thread-"I'm done!" Hinata then stood up on her toes and reached up with her hand to smooth down Naruto's unruly hair. Naruto looked down at Hinata with his blue eyes. Her face looked a little bit flustered. Her dark eyelashes fluttered a bit around her ivory eyes as she concentrated on trying to flatten Naruto's hair, which was _not _complying. Hinata stepped back. "Go, get a move on!" She pushed Naruto out of the servants quarters as he slipped on a dark navy blue cape. She watched him as he saddled his large, stocky horse, Gamabunta. The late morning sun shined through Naruto's unruly, blonde hair, making it look almost golden. He hopped on Gamabunta and gave Hinata a little salute.

"Later, Hinata!"

"Later," Hinata smiled. "Try not to do anything _too_ dumb."

"Aw, have a little faith in me," he said laughing and then swung his horse around, cantering out of the stable yard.

"Remember: if you're caught,_ you'll surely loose your head!" _

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The plan was for Naruto to ride down the steep hill behind the castle, cross the river, and ride for about ten minutes south-east away from the castle through the woods. Then he would reach the main road, which he would follow _back_ to Uppperton Castle and enter through the front entrance with all the other contestants.

Naruto reached the road and trotted along it until he reached some other travelers.

"Hey! You on your way to the castle too?" Naruto said jovially. The man at the front of the group turned around in his horses saddle and looked at Naruto. He had dark brown hair and red triangle tattoos on his face. He lifted his hand up in a little salute.

"Yep."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! At your service!" Naruto trotted Gamabunta up to the other man's horse's side.

"Kiba Inuzuka..._not _at _your _service." Kiba prodded his white horse forward, trying to make some distance between him and this new, chatty person. Kiba glanced to his right. Damn! Still there. "What do you want?" Kiba pursed his lips, aggravated.

"Nothing." Naruto said and stuck his jaw out looking straight ahead. Entering the castle in a group would attract less attention to himself so it was important to keep up with this Kiba Inuzuka.

"Then stop following me!"

"I'm not following you. We just both happen to be going in the same direction. Towards the castle..."

In reply the Inuzuka began grumbling lowly about stupid looking people following him around everywhere and giving him a bad image. "Just keep your distance when we get there. Okay? Comprendo?"

"Al_right_. Don't be so touchy."

The group rode along in silence up the wide dirt road, over a grand stone bridge and to the even grander entrance to Upperton Castle, where various noblemen where queuing up.

"Well, this is it." Naruto said as he hopped off his horse and entered the line behind Kiba, who shot him a glare and mouthed '_Don't talk to me_.' Naruto dragged a hand through his spiky hair. So far things were going swimmingly!

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**If you're reading you should also be reviewing! Flames, comments, questions, advice, and _of course_ praise (haha!) are all welcome. Thanks for reading!**

**Special thanks to Snowdoll18 for reminding me to keep on writing this story! Thanks :3**

**-Harri The Celery**

**P.S. What genre do you think this story should be? Cause at the moment I have humor and adventure but, there will _eventually_ be romance too. Your thoughts?**


	3. Chapter 3: In The Middle Of Things

Chapter 3: In The Middle Of Things

"Name?" an official drawled at the gate.

"Nar–no! Prince U-Uzumaki of...Transylvania. Heh. Yep. That's me."

"Prince Uzumaki of Transylvania..." the man mumbled as he wrote it down in the registry. "Never heard of you. But you look weirdly familiar. Can't quite place you though." The official shrugged and Naruto looked at him stupidly. "Well! Go on! You're holding up the line."

From there Naruto was directed by various rude officers through the courtyard, to a sort of cobblestone tunnel.

"Just follow the tunnel to the end where the opening ceremonies are being held. Once you get to the end of the passage there's a big ring you're going to walk around with all the other contestants. And hurry up so we can get this show on the road!"

"Ehh. Whatever," Naruto mumbled to himself as he led Gamabunta through the stone passageway. It was lined with burning torches and slanted gradually downwards. Naruto was beginning to wonder if he had been directed in the wrong way when he saw the light at the end of the underground passage. "Hey c'mon, boy!" Naruto urged his horse forward at a slow jog. The sounds of outside grew louder as he drew closer to the exit. It was a dull roar resembling a large cheering crowd. Naruto finally reached the end of the passageway and walked into the blinding sunlight. On either side of him was a monstrous stadium filled with hoards of yelling, clapping people.

Gamabunta shied away from the deafening noise.

"Easy there. It's okay." Naruto stroked his horse's ears, trying to sooth him. Frankly, Naruto wasn't too sure of himself at the moment. The immense crowds made him more than a little nervous.

"Yo!" a man with wild, grey hair strode over to Naruto. "Name?" he asked as he straightened his green velvet robes and positioned his pencil on the notepad he was holding, ready to write.

"Prince Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto gulped.

"Uzumaki with a U, right? Uzumaki...you aren't on the list, kid. Why aren't you on the list?" The man looked at Naruto with bored eyes.

"Uh. Um," Naruto floundered, trying to come up with some pompous excuse. "Well, it's becau-"

"Never mind. I haven't got time to deal with that. Okay here's what's going to happen. Get on your horse! You need a leg up? Fine? Good. See that big racetrack there?"

From where he was at the moment, in a sort of entrance to the track between the wooden stadiums, Naruto couldn't see much of the racetrack. Nevertheless, the grey-haired man continued.

"You're going to ride out there and as you turn _right _onto the track. Keep walking around the track until you get to where the contestants are lining up in front of the yellow awning-tent thing where the royal family is sitting, and stop there. Got it? Okay, go." The man clapped his hands.

Naruto rode Gamabunta, who was jogging nervously, past the wooden stands and stopped at the entrance of the racetrack. The grassy field was huge and oval. The sides were lined with stands that were filled with hundreds of people. Bright flags waved. People yelled. Acrobats entertained people. Some random peasants with grubby faces were on the sidelines waving fresh baked pretzels in peoples faces and telling them "Buy two, get one free!" And on the racetrack itself were decidedly pretentious men riding perfectly groomed horses and waving in a decidedly cheesy manner at the people in the stands. This whole thing was turning out to be much more of a spectacle than Naruto had expected.

Naruto got up the courage to move forward again and walked his horse onto the track. A new wave of applause went up for him. Girls threw flowers at him. Naruto caught one. People also waved banners at him, effectively spooking Naruto's horse and making him go around the track a lot faster than Naruto had originally intended. When he reached the other contestants, who were lining up on their horses, Naruto reined in Gamabunta. Naruto turned to see a familiar face looking at him disapprovingly.

"KIBA! We meet again!"

"I thought I told you to stay away from me! By the way, you look like an idiot," Kiba said as he gestured to the rose that was tucked behind Naruto's ear.

"Oh, that. Yeah. Some chick threw this at me." Naruto nodded his head. "I'm pretty hot stuff you know."

"Pfff. Hot stuff? Please. Don't make me laugh."

"You just don't like to admit it, but I know that you know that everybody knows that-"

"Welcome! Welcome brave men to Upperton Castle!" The same grey haired man as before was in front of them on the stage where the royal family would be. "May I present to you the King and Queen!"

The King and his wife climbed the stairs to the stage in a regal manner and the Queen sat in on of the gold and purple cushioned thrones while the King walked to the front of the platform.

"I, King Yamanaka, am honored to have you all here today as my guests. And without further ado, the reason you all are here, Princess Ino." The King swept his hand to the right. A tall, slender girl walked up the steps and onto the platform. Her long blond hair cascaded down her shoulders. She wore an amber colored gown and a slight pout on her face. She took her seat next to her mother. The King smiled and continued talking.

"Now it seems we have more suitors than anticipated...but, is that a surprise?" There was a bit of polite laughter. "Because there are so many contestants we will have a preliminary horse race-once around the entire arena- and the top twelve placers will continue on. The other thirty will have to go home. There will be three races with fourteen contestants in each."

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Half an hour later Naruto was on his horse and headed to the starting line. He was in the last group of competitors. A feeling of excitement was in the air. He had to place at least fourth to make it.

Hinata elbowed her way through the crowd standing at the bottom of the stands. She had heard about the race from one of the other servants and had been able to sneak out of the castle to see the race that Naruto was in. She got to the front of the crowd and quickly spotted her blond friend on his sitting on his horse. He was laughing at something that a brunette man with red tattoos on his face said. Naruto looked towards the crowd and caught Hinata's eye. He smiled at her.

"Riders, on your mark!" The announcer yelled.

Hinata caught her breath. She watched as Naruto turned back to the track in front of him and grabbed a bit of his horses mane, lacing it in between his fingers. A look of determination had washed over his face.

"Get set!"

Naruto leaned forward a little bit, anticipating the start of the race. He'd win this race. He'd win it for Hinata. She'd done so much to help him. So Naruto would win this race for her.

"Go!"

And the fourteen horse and riders were off. The horses thundered down the track, snorting and heaving. Naruto hadn't started off well. He was in the back of the pack of horses. Mud flew in his face, making it hard to see. Fourteenth place. Naruto wiped a bit of mud out of his eyes. He moved his horse towards the inside of the track and urged his horse on. Thirteenth place. There was only a third of the race left. Focus Naruto!

"C'mon Gamabunta. Let's go."

Twelfth place. Eleventh place. Tenth place. Naruto was steadily moving forward in the ranks. Gamabunta ate up the ground and soon they were in third place. The pack of horses galloped around the bend. There was the finish line! Naruto glanced to his right. He was tied with Kiba. Kiba glanced at Naruto and laughed. Maybe Naruto wasn't that bad after all.

When they thundered across the finish line they were met with a roar of cheering.

The race was extremely close. It was announced that Kiba won the race, but there were a few people who had seen the race from a little bit of a better vantage point and argued that, no, actually the loud blond guy with the dusty horse came in first.

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**Any weird mistakes? Please tell me in a review maybe? Thanks for reading!**

**-Harri the Celery**


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